The Hug

DVF Power Ring

2007-06-21T00:19:00.000+05:00

If you love big diamond rings but solitaires aren't your thing, then this Diane VonFurstenberg Power Ring by H. Stern is a good alternative. From the Power Ring Collection, the DVF Power Ring features 18 karat white gold in a interlacing pattern with Pavé diamonds filling every available space and totaling 4.6 carats total weight. Some think it looks like a constellation, and I think it looks more like diamonds within a diamond, but however it strikes you it's sure to make a bold statement. Have yours here for $19,000.

George Michael Set To Buy The Diamond Skull

2007-06-12T19:45:00.001+05:00

Ever since Damien Hirst unveiled his $99 million diamond bedazzled skull, I have wondered who would be the first to be rumored to make the skull their own. Never in a million years would I have guessed George Michael but rumor has it that he and his partner Kenny Goss had a private viewing of Hirst's work last week. The skull, an 18th century piece bought by Hirst in a north London shop, is covered with 8,601 diamonds totaling 1,106.18 carats.

Hirst and Goss have an art collection that is valued at £100 million and already own a Hirst work, Saint Sebastian, Exquisite Pain, a preserved black calf pierced by dozens of arrows and tied to a steel post. The couple also plans to launch the Goss-Michael Foundation, a non-profit organization for promoting young artists. Although if they buy this piece they probably won't have a lot of money left.

Unique concept in luxury shopping at Dubai Festival City from Damas

2007-06-05T15:47:00.000+05:00

Damas, the leading international jewellery retailer in the Middle East, unveils a unique concept in luxury shopping through its new outlet in Dubai Festival City. The sleek and stylish Damas Les Exclusives Multi-Brand Boutique, the first of its kind in the region, houses ten of the world’s top jewellery brands and offers its clients a whole new shopping experience.

Mr. Tawhid Abdullah, Managing Director of Damas and the brain behind the new retail concept, remarks, “For 100 years, we have maintained our competitive edge by consistently seeking new ways to create greater value for our ever-growing clientele. Damas Les Exclusives Multi-brand Boutique is our answer to the need for a unique setting where our highly selective customers can take pleasure in the world’s finest gold and diamond jewellery. We invite everyone to visit our new shop and have a rare encounter with luxury.”

From the imposing façade of the boutique featuring ‘larger-than-life’ jewellery images and showcases of exquisite pieces, one is introduced to the shops-within-a-shop concept of the boutique. Ten international jewellery brands are featured in their own virtual boutique set up inspired by the brands’ individual identities as seen in stand-alone boutiques across the globe.

Damas Les Exclusives Multi-Brand Boutique offers a unique mix of international jewellery brands, carefully selected to represent varying jewellery designs and styles, each one with its own distinct characterand identity.

Annamaria Cammilli is hailed as the “Lady of Flowers.” Her jewellery creations reiterate the mesmerizing power of her blooms that put everyone under a spell. The brand presents gold in its richest and original colours with enormous care for details, thereby transforming each jewel into something absolutely unique.

Baraka, widely known as the foremost Italian jewellery brand for men, stands out for its stylish blending of precious materials such as gold and diamonds with other materials like steel and rubber to come up with sleek and elegant pieces.

Fope jewellery comes from one of Italy's leading design houses and is based in Vincenza. Intricate designs and beautiful craftsmanship are the hallmarks of Fope's quintessentially fine Italian pieces.

Gemtique is a Swiss brand synonymous with coloured gemstones jewellery. Its floral designs make the most of the rainbow hues to bring out a touch of natural harmony. All Gemtique pieces are exclusively set with precision-cut signity genuine gemstones for maximum brilliance and luster.

Love Diamond is considered one of the best diamond jewellery in the world with its ideal cut and perfect symmetry and showing eight hearts and eight arrow patterns – a feat in diamond cutting.IoSi comes from the renowned Italian house Scavia whose philosophy of the ‘extraordinary declined into the everyday,’ became the stimulus for a new range of jewellery. Designed with the sensitivity of someone who loves women in their varying individualities, IoSi transcends boundaries of age, image or lifestyle.

Some facts about Gold

2007-06-01T23:06:00.000+05:00

The chemical symbol for gold is Au, from the Latin aurum, which means 'shining dawn'. Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn which links to the warm, yellow colour of gold. Gold and Copper are the only two non white coloured metals.

Gold and copper were the first metals to be discovered by man, around 5000BC, and together with silver these three metals are found in the metallic state in the earth's crust. Gold is still mined in its metallic form in over 60 countries around the world.

Gold is referred to as a precious and a noble metal. Gold has an excellent chemical stability with a high resistance to corrosion and oxidation. However, this is just one of the many properties that gold possesses, which when considered in combination with each other have led to a number of exciting and often unique industrial applications.

The purity of gold is measured in Carats. A Carat was originally a unit of mass (weight) based on the Carob seed or bean which was used by ancient merchants in the Middle East. The Carat is still used for the weight of gem stones where 1 carat = 200mg. For gold is is used to measure the purity where pure gold is 24 carats. The following table shows the range from pure gold at 24 Carats to less pure at 9 Carats.

In Europe 18 and 14 carat alloys are most commonly used in jewellery, however 9 carat is popular in Britain.

In many countries the law requires that every item of gold jewellery is clearly stamped with its caratage. Jewellery in many countries is stamped or hallmarked with its caratage. The hallmarking system was developed in London in the 14th century at Goldsmiths' Hall.

World's largest diamond mine

2007-05-29T21:08:00.000+05:00

This diamond mine in eastern Siberia - Mirny is the largest diamond mine in the world. It is so deep that the surrounding air zone is closed for helicopters after few accidents when they were sucked in by downward air flow.

Look for the tiny red arrow in the following photograph; it's pointing to a 220-ton rock-hauling truck more than 20' tall.

Bird Poops on Bush

2007-05-26T13:16:00.000+05:00

As President Bush took a question Thursday in the White House Rose Garden about scandals involving his Attorney General, he remarked, “I’ve got confidence in Al Gonzales doin’ the job.”

But it seems a sparrow didn't agree and simultaneously flew overhead and left a splash on the President’s sleeve, which Bush tried several times to wipe off.

Pointed Diamonds

2007-05-25T19:43:00.000+05:00

One of the earliest cuts of diamonds was the pointed diamond, sometimes referred to as a writing diamond. Polished with very few facets, almost the entire original eight sided crystal of the diamond is left intact. There are usually four facets which lead to a pyramid shape. Popular in the 15th - 16th centuries, this cut flourished for generations.

What are Old European Cut Diamonds?

2007-05-23T22:05:00.000+05:00

Old European cut diamonds are a form of brilliant cut diamonds with a variety of facets - usually fifty eight (58) with the key features of a large table, an open culet and a round perimeter or shape. The invention of the bruting machine allowed the girdle (or perimeter) to be round rather than irregular. Unlike the old mine diamonds, these are closer to what we see today in modern diamonds.

Why is Black the Color of Death?

2007-05-22T21:44:00.000+05:00

Studies have shown most colors have more positive than negative associations, and even when a color has negative association, it is normally only when used in a particular context.

Black is often seen as the ‘color’ of death in Western culture. This is likely because when things die the rotting flesh will turn black, and it is also the color of wood after fire has completely consumed it. Black is also the ‘color’ of the unknown, since darkness hinders vision.

The initial fourteenth-century European event was called the ‘Great Mortality’ by contemporary writers and, with later outbreaks, became known as the ‘Black Death’. It has been popularly thought that the name came from a striking symptom of the disease, called acral necrosis, in which the sufferers’ skin would blacken due to subdermal hemorrhages. However, the term refers in fact to the figurative sense of ‘black’ (glum, lugubrious or dreadful).

The Black Death, or Black Plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. It began in south-western Asia and spread to Europe by the late 1340s, where it received its name Black Death. The total number of deaths worldwide from the pandemic is estimated at 75 million people. The Black Death is estimated to have killed between a third and two-thirds of Europe’s population.

People in many cultures have an automatic negative perception of the color black. Thomas Gilovich and Mark Frank found that sports teams with primarily black uniforms were significantly more likely to receive penalties in historical data. Students were more likely to infer negative traits from a picture of a player wearing a black uniform. They also taped staged football matches, with one team wearing black and another wearing white. Experienced referees were more likely to penalize black-wearing players for nearly identical plays. Finally, groups of students tended to prefer more aggressive sports if wearing black shirts themselves.

What is homeopathy?

2007-05-20T00:16:00.000+05:00

Homeopathy is a gentle, holistic system of healing, suitable for everyone, young and old. Homeopathy focuses on you as an individual, concentrating on treating your specific physical and emotional symptoms, to give long lasting benefits.

The therapy is based on the theory of treating “like with like”. Homeopathic remedies are highly diluted natural substances that if given in stronger doses to a healthy person, would produce the symptoms the medicine is prescribed for. In the assessment of you, the patient, homeopaths will take into account the range of physical, emotional and lifestyle factors in order to prescribe the right medicine(s).

21 Rules of Life

2007-05-19T23:59:00.000+05:00

1. Marry the right person . This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.

2. Work at something you enjoy and that's worthy of your time and talent.

3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

4. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.

5. Be forgiving of yourself and others.

6. Be generous.

7. Have a grateful heart.

8. Persistence, persistence, persistence.

9. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.

10. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.

11. Commit yourself to constant improvement.

12. Commit yourself to quality.

13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationship with people you love and respect.

14. Be loyal.

15. Be honest.

16. Be a self-starter.

17. Be decisive even it it means you'll sometimes be wrong.

18. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.

19. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.

20. Take good care of those you love.

21. Don't do anything that wouldn't make your Mom proud.

Why is Red the International Color for Stop?

2007-05-16T22:49:00.000+05:00

Stop signs originated in Detroit, Michigan in 1915. The first had black letters on a white background and were somewhat smaller than the modern one. In 1924, the sign changed to black on yellow. In 1954 the US Federal Highway Administration (FHA) published the The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). It was in this manual that the stop sign was standardized as red with white type. The color coding for stop goes a bit further back. Red became a color connected with stop when the first primitive railroad signaling devices were developed in the 1830s and 1840s. Inittialy red meant “stop,” green meant “caution,” and clear (i.e., white) meant “go.” They later figured out that Go as a white lead was problomatic when confused with other lights.

Burj Dubai

2007-05-15T23:08:00.000+05:00

Dubai is where is at architecturally these days.
The crown will be the Burj.
When completed it will the tallest building in the world by a long shot.
The lead architect is Adrian Smith of the Chicago’s Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
Its final height is a secret but it is believed will be 808 metres (2651 feet) high.

Just for a change of concept.

2007-05-14T22:00:00.000+05:00

1.If all the nations in the world are in debt(am not joking. even US has got debts), where did all the money go? (weird)

2.When dog food is new and improved tasting, who tests it? (to be given a thought)

3.What is the speed of darkness? (absurd)

4.If the "black box" flight recorder is never damaged during a plane crash, why isn't the whole airplane made out of that stuff? very good thinking)

5.Who copyrighted the copyright symbol? (who knows)

6.Can you cry under water? (let me try)

7.Why do people say, "you've been working like a dog" when dogs just sit around all day? (i think they meant something else)

8.Why are the numbers on a calculator and a phone reversed? (God knows)

9.Do fish ever get thirsty? (let me ask and tell)

10.Can you get cornered in a round room? (by ones eyes)

11.What does OK actually mean? (don't know)

12.Why do birds not fall out of trees when they sleep? (tonight i will stay and watch)

13.What came first, the fruit or the color orange? (seed)

14.If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from? (No comments)

15.What should one call a male ladybird? (No comments)

16.If a person suffered from amnesia and then was cured would they remember what they forgot? (can somebody help )

17.Can you blow a balloon up under water? (yes u can)

18.Why is it called a "building" when it is already built? (strange isn't it)

19.If you were traveling at the speed of sound and you turned on your radio would you be able to hear it? (got to think scientifically)

20.If you're traveling at the speed of light and you turn your headlights on, what happens? (i don't have a change to try)

21.Why is it called a TV set when there's only one? (very nice)

22.If a person owns a piece of land do they own it all the way down to the core of the earth? (this is nice)

23.Why do most cars have speedometers that go up to at least 130 when you legally can't go that fast on any road? (stupid, break the law)

Obesity And Its Associated Risks

2007-05-13T21:59:00.000+05:00

The increased mortality associated with results primarily from increased risks for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, and, possibly, some types of cancer.

Cardiovascular system:
Increased risk of sudden death, Cardiac Arrhythmias, increased risk of atherosclerosis, abnormal lipid profile with decreased levels of high density lipoproteins, and increased levels of low density lipoproteins.Prevelence of hypertension is also increased.

A waist circumference above 100 cm in men and above 90 cm in women is associated with increased levels of triglyceride and reduced levels of HDL cholesterol.

Diabetes Mellitus:
Type 2 diabetes mellitus [non-insulin- dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM)] is almost nonexistent in individuals with a BMI below 22.

Cancer:
Obese men - higher incidence of cancer of prostate, colon and rectum.

Obese women - higher incidence of Uterus, Overies and Gal bladder cancers.

24% of all cancers are linked to obesity

Gall Bladder Disease:
Gall Bladder disease with formation of cholesterol stones also increases with obesity.

Respiratory system:
Sleep apnoea occurs with excessive obesity.

Joints:
Ostheoarthritis and gout is associated with obesity.

Skin Problems:
Acanthosis nigricans, manifested by darkening of the skinfolds on the neck, elbows, and dorsal interphalangeal spaces. Fungal and other skin infections in the skin folds.

Being overweight is the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

Happy Mother's Day - Poem

2007-05-13T01:47:00.000+05:00

For all that you have given me,
I can return but love. For you
Bound up the wounds I did not see
And gave me hopes and passions new.

I can return but love for you,
Whose unmoved faith my heart did move,
And gave me hopes and passions new,
And loved me till I turned to love.

Whose unmoved faith did my heart move?
The mother of my heart, not blood,
Who loved me till I turned to love.
And I became the soul I would.

The mother of my heart, not blood,
Bound up the wounds I did not see.
And I became the soul I would
For all that you have given me.

REMEMBER HER UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND,
PASS IT ON!

Click here
A Very good presentation on Mother & more

Artists Creativity

2007-05-12T22:55:00.000+05:00

WOMAN'S TRUE LOVE & LOYALTY

2007-05-10T16:00:00.000+05:00

The man fought for the US in the War against Iraq and after returning, he had got married with the girl he was in Love with... Real true Love indeed...

After Returning......

Hats off to the girl's TRUE LOVE...

Snake Facts

2007-05-09T21:30:00.000+05:00

The largest snakes in the world are members of the family Boidae, which includes the boa and the python. Some members of this family never attain a length of more than 0.6 m (2 ft), but the largest may grow to more than 9 m (30 ft).

Sea snakes have no gills and must rise to the surface for air, but they can remain underwater for several hours, obtaining dissolved oxygen from water that they swallow and eject.

Approximately 2500 different species of snakes are known. Approximately 20 % of the total numbers of the snake species are poisonous.

In some species the skin is shed about every 20 days; in others, only once a year.

The big pythons can eat animals that weigh up to about 68 kg (150 lb), but swallowing such a meal is a difficult process.

The snake must bite to inject its venom; no snake has a stinger in its tail.

Three species of snake can spit or eject the venom in a fine spray, which is aimed at the eyes of an enemy and projected for distances up to 2.4 m (8 ft). If the venom gets into the eyes, it may cause blindness. The spitting is used only in defense and never to obtain food.

Vision is well developed in most snakes, but many burrowing snakes are virtually blind.

Snakes have a strong sense of smell, which is relied on to a large extent in hunting food.

Snakes are deaf to airborne sounds. The Cobra does not hear, as it is believed, the snake-charmer’s flute. They can, however, feel vibrations through the ground or whatever they are resting on.

Snakes move slower than an adult human can run; the fastest recorded speed achieved by any snake is about 13 km/hr (8 mph), but few can go that fast.

Depending on the species, snakes may be egg-layers or give birth to live young. They generally mate in the spring, shortly after leaving whatever hollow, burrow or rock crevice has sheltered them through winter hibernation.

Most snakes mature at one or two years of age, and individuals may live up to twenty years in the wild.

The greatest age known for any snake is just under 30 years, attained by both the anaconda and the black-lipped cobra.

Snakes do not leap or jump into the air. Instead, those that do strike out coil themselves enough to get a push or strong outward movement designed to snatch prey or inject venom.

Most snakes can only strike about one half their total body length.

They do not actually leave the ground. They are capable of striking upward or outward at approximate one half length level.

Creative Bag Designs

2007-05-09T12:07:00.000+05:00

Official says China could see baby boom

2007-05-08T14:31:00.000+05:00

BEIJING: The top family planning official in China has warned that the country, the world's most populous, could face a population rebound as the newly rich pay to have more children, state media reported Monday.
Zhang Weiqing, director of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, also said rural residents were still marrying below the legal marriageable ages of 22 for men and 20 for women, contributing to more births.
"Early marriages are still prevailing in some parts of the country, especially rural areas, which goes against the family planning policy," the Xinhua press agency quoted Zhang as saying.
China, which is home to 1.3 billion people, introduced strict family planning policies more than 25 years ago to try to curb population growth.
Most urban residents are restricted to one child, while those in rural areas are encouraged to have one but allowed more in some circumstances. Those who have babies in violation of the restrictions are punished with heavy fines.
But Zhang said China's wealthy were showing disdain for the policy by paying to have as many children as they wanted.
"The number of rich people and celebrities having more than one child is on a rapid increase, and nearly 10 percent of them even have three," Xinhua cited a survey by the Family Planning Commission as saying.
A Chinese health official has also said that rural women were risking maternal heath by delivering babies in violation of the restrictions at home or in unregulated clinics.
"Some policy-breaking pregnant women, who dared not apply for any financial aid of childbearing for fear of legal punishment, chose to deliver babies at home or in substandard private clinics," Xinhua quoted the vice minister of health, Jiang Zuojun, as saying in a separate report.
In the southeastern province of Jiangxi, half of maternal deaths were from pregnancies that fell outside of family planning restrictions, the report said.

World's Shortest Man

2007-05-06T20:00:00.000+05:00

Bus Art

2007-05-06T19:45:00.000+05:00

Wind shaped Pavilion

2007-05-04T23:27:00.000+05:00

The Wind Shaped Pavilion is a design proposal for a large fabric structure that can be used as a public or private pavilion. As a lightweight fabric structure, the wind slowly and randomly rotates each of the six segments around a central open support frame. This continually alters the shape of the pavilion, while at the same time generating electrical power for its nighttime illumination.

The shape of the structure start out as a relatively symmetrically form. Then the wind begins to alter that shape randomly, with only a slim chance of ever returning to its original symmetry. If the structure scales and materials were to change, it could become an apartment complex and or some other commercial building. In this case the occupants take control and rotate segments to adjust to changing desires or needs, such as weather conditions, best view etc.

Saying I Love You in 100 languages

2007-05-04T00:32:00.000+05:00

We wish you that your love prosper in such a way, that the below 100 expressions become insufficient for you to express yourself...

English - I love you

Afrikaans - Ek het jou lief

Albanian - Te dua

Arabic - Ana behibak (to male)

Arabic - Ana behibek (to female)

Armenian - Yes kez sirumen

Bambara - M'bi fe

Bangla - Aamee tuma ke bhalo aashi

Belarusian - Ya tabe kahayu

Bisaya - Nahigugma ako kanimo

Bulgarian - Obicham te

Cambodian - Soro lahn nhee ah

Cantonese Chinese - Ngo oiy ney a

Catalan - T'estimo

Cheyenne - Ne mohotatse

Chichewa - Ndimakukonda

Corsican - Ti tengu caru (to male)

Creol - Mi aime jou

Croatian - Volim te

Czech - Miluji te

Danish - Jeg Elsker Dig

Dutch - Ik hou van jou

Esperanto - Mi amas vin

Estonian - Ma armastan sind

Ethiopian - Afgreki'

Faroese - Eg elski teg

Farsi - Doset daram

Filipino - Mahal

Finnish - Mina rakastan sinua

French - Je t'aime, Je t'adore

Gaelic - Ta gra agam ort

Georgian - Mikvarhar

German - Ich liebe dich

Greek - S'agapo

Gujarati - Hoo thunay prem karoo choo

Hiligaynon - Palangga ko ikaw

Hawaiian - Aloha wau ia oi

Hebrew - Ani ohev otah (to female)

Hebrew - Ani ohev et otha (to male)

Hiligaynon - Guina higugma ko ikaw

Hindi - Hum Tumhe Pyar Karte hae

Hmong - Kuv hlub koj

Hopi - Nu' umi unangwa'ta

Hungarian - Szeretlek

Icelandic - Eg elska tig

Ilonggo - Palangga ko ikaw

Indonesian - Saya cinta padamu

Inuit - Negligevapse

Irish - Taim i' ngra leat

Italian - Ti amo

Japanese - Aishiteru

Kannada - Naanu ninna preetisuttene

Kapampangan - Kaluguran daka

Kiswahili - Nakupenda

Konkani - Tu magel moga cho

Korean - Sarang Heyo

Latin - Te amo

Latvian - Es tevi miilu

Lebanese - Bahibak

Lithuanian - Tave myliu

Malay - Saya cintakan mu / Aku cinta padamu

Tamil - Nan unnai kathalikaraen

Telugu - Nenu ninnu premistunnanu

Thai - Chan rak khun (to male)

Thai - Phom rak khun (to female)

Turkish - Seni Seviyorum

Ukrainian - Ya tebe kahayu

Urdu - mai aap say pyaar karta hoo

Vietnamese - Anh ye^u em (to female)

Vietnamese - Em ye^u anh (to male)

Welsh - 'Rwy'n dy garu

Yiddish - Ikh hob dikh

Yoruba - Mo ni fe

Harvesting houses for the planet

2007-05-02T21:37:00.000+05:00

Buildings are expected to feature as a crucial area for energy-saving in the UN's third report on climate change this week.

Encamped on the edge of London's docklands development, a bazaar of corporate stalls is pursuing the green pound in Britain's ever-hungry construction industry.

Production of concrete, that staple of modern building, alone accounts for up to 10% of man-made greenhouse gas, US scientists believe.

Then there is the energy spent on shipping the materials, and finally the power needs of the finished buildings.

Yet with a bit of clever substitution and sourcing, and some deft adjustments to the existing housing stock, environmentalists believe that CO2 emissions could be reduced anywhere in the world.

House of straw

If the number of "green" consultancy companies at London's Think 07 trade fair is anything to go by, environmentally-friendly architecture is becoming big business in the developed world.

Solid sea and sand

Home to 80% of the world's population, the developing world has access to less than 20% of the world's construction materials, according to figures from the UN's industrial development agency (Unido).

Source

About Egypt

2007-05-01T21:04:00.000+05:00

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country in North Africa that includes the Sinai Peninsula, a land bridge to Asia. Covering an area of about 1,001,450 square kilometers, Egypt borders Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east. The northern coast borders the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern coast borders the Red Sea.

Egypt is the fifteenth most populous country in the world and the second most populous country in Africa. The vast majority of its 76.5 million people live near the banks of the Nile River (about 40,000 km² or 15,450 sq miles) where the only arable agricultural land is found. Large areas of land form part of the Sahara Desert and are sparsely inhabited. Around half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with the majority spread across the densely populated centers of greater Cairo (the largest city in the Arab World, Africa, and the Middle East), Alexandria and other major towns in the Nile Delta.

Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most ancient and important monuments, including the Giza Pyramids and the Great Sphinx of Giza, the southern city of Luxor contains a particularly large number of ancient artifacts such as the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings. Today, Egypt is widely regarded as an important political and cultural centre of the Middle East.